Mileage

All right, I give up. I keep writing in my head and trying to get myself to type it and save paper, but I just can't seem to do it. So I'm back to “wasting” paper writing out longhand then typing it up, but at least getting the words out to where other people can see them, in hopes they might prove useful, inspiring, or perhaps just wryly amusing.

Last week I mentioned doing a lot of hiking to various parks in town, then getting to Palisades just before sunset. I did go back the Palisades the next day, and it was very cool, but I want to do some more exploring there before reporting on it.

I believe it was Saturday that I had a chance to use the library internet to estimate my mileage from the park recons – I was shocked to find I'd done about 15 miles! Well I guess that makes sense – I was out from 10a to 4p, so 6 hours. I had noticed previously on the well-marked Centennial Trail that I was covering 5 miles about every two hours. “Average” (who's that?) walking speed is considered 3mph, which I think is what Google uses to calculate the time, but I'm more a rambler than a speed-racer! I have come to the conclusion that I have no real interest in speed or distance, simply experience. Based on what I've read, this makes me somewhat unusual, but then I've been reading about thru-hikers who slog through the crappy parts of a trail to get to the good parts. Okay, whatever.

When I lived in Minnesota I would go up to the North Shore and backpack on the Superior Hiking Trail, which is a lovely footpath than largely follows the ridge line overlooking Lake Superior. This trail has semi-improved campsites about every 7-8 miles. I never tried to get any further than the next site on a given day, so I'd guess my narrow-rocky-trail up-and-down-mountains speed to be closer to 1mph! I'm hoping to head up there in June 2012, so maybe I'll try paying closer attention to actual mileage and speed. Maybe. The trees and mountain streams are far more important after all!

I have recently learned that not everyone knows the same tricks with Google Maps, so I figured I would share some of mine. This can be done before a trip to get an idea of what you're up for, but I usually do it after to find out just what the heck I did!

*Using Google Maps to Estimate Mileage*

Find your start point. Right (context) click, select “get directions from here”. Find your endpoint (if looping, pick a spot a short distance away – we'll correct it later.) Right click, select “get directions to here”. If you want to get really spiffy, change from auto to pedestrian icons on the left info panel – this helps with one-way streets, but is an option in only some areas.

Google has drawn a blue line indicating the computers suggested route. If you left (regular) click, you can drag the line to where you actually went. Each click will add a 'stop' on your route. Be as vague or precise as you desire in re-tracing your route, and Google will tell you the total distance in the left info panel.

If you looped, you put your destination in the wrong spot in order to get enough blue route line to grab. To correct that location, just grab the green marker and drag-and-drop it in the right place.

You can also type the start/end addresses into the boxes in the left info panel, but I find it easier to point-and-click my way through the whole process. That and I may not know the address where I stopped hiking and jumped on a bus (usually due to sunset!) but I can easily recognize it by matching to the paper map I carry when hiking (street maps are an advantage to urban hiking!).

I use a different method to map out off-road trails, such as the snowmobile and skidder trails I was exploring while living in Maine, but that's a lesson for a different day!

Enjoy your walk!